UTEP Miners

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EL PASO, Texas - The UTEP volleyball team will launch its 2007 slate at the Sun Bowl Volleyball Invitational on Friday, Aug. 24 & 25 in Memorial Gym. The Miners open the tournament with Marist College at noon and Texas Southern at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and follow with Texas-Pan American and North Dakota State on Saturday.

UTEP's match against Texas Southern on Friday will be tape delayed and aired on Time Warner's Metro Sports Channel 24 on Saturday, Aug. 25 and Sunday, Aug. 26 at noon.

This marks the second consecutive season the Miners have opened in the Sun Bowl Invite. The tournament is hosted by the Sun Bowl Association who put on the nation's second-oldest bowl game annually, the Brut Sun Bowl football game.

•THE SERIES UTEP is 1-0 against Marist...the lone meeting was just two years ago at the 2005 Titan Classic in Fullerton, Calif....the Miners defeated the Red Foxes in a three-game sweep...the Miners are 3-0 against Texas Southern, boasting an undefeated game record, having swept all three matches...the Miners are 13-1 against Texas-Pan American...the Miners' only loss to the Broncos came on Oct. 21, 2003, when UTPA beat UTEP 3-1 in Edinburgh...this will be the first meeting between UTEP and North Dakota State.

•FUN IN THE SUN The Miners are 1-5 all-time in the Sun Bowl Volleyball Invitational...UTEP's best finish came in 2005 - the tournament's inaugural season - when the Miners finished 1-1, defeating Troy but falling to I-10 rival New Mexico State...in 2006, the Miners ended the tournament 0-4...the Miners have had three players named to the all-tournament team and have swept the Most Valuable Libero award since the invitational's existence (Brittany Stowers and Elsa Reyes, respectively).

•ON SEASON OPENERS The Miners are 18-15 in season openers...11 of UTEP's 33 seasons have been home openers with the Miners gripping onto a 6-5 record...when the Miners open the season in a tournament, UTEP is 13-9.

•ON THE TUBE UTEP's match against Texas Southern will be televised on Time Warner's Metro Sports Channel 24...UTEP's match is tape delayed and scheduled to air on Saturday, Aug. 25 and Sunday, Aug. 26 at noon...UTEP's match versus Texas Tech in 2006 was also televised...this marks the second consecutive season the Miner squad will be featured on local cable television when participating in the tournament.

•GROWING UP The Miners return five starters and nine letter winners from the 2006 squad...of the nine, four are underclassmen (sophomores Irma Blanco, Catherine Chavez, Aidan Mooney and Amy Sanders) and all saw significant action last season as freshmen...together, they combined for 627 kills, 53 aces, 577 digs and 159 total blocks...of UTEP's 14 squad members, eight are underclassmen, including four freshmen.

•SO CLOSE BUT SO FAR AWAY Despite finishing 7-25 in 2006, two-thirds of UTEP's matches went over the three-game mark and where decided by an average of 2.6 points per game...the Miners went over three games 20 times last season...seven were five-game matches.

•THE LITTLE GIANT Junior Elsa Reyes may stand at 5-2, but she is a defensive giant on the court...Reyes became UTEP's all-time single-season digs leader, totaling 632 in 2006...Reyes holds the top spot at UTEP for digs per game in a season (5.14)...Reyes needs just 368 digs to reach 1,000 for her career and needs just 592 to become UTEP's all-time career digs leader.

•MURPHY'S TRIFECTA Christie Murphy is just one of two seniors on the 2007 squad...Murphy, a three-year starter, is a versatile player who can perform at any position on the court...Murphy could end her career on three UTEP record book charts - kills, attempts and aces...Murphy needs just 237 kills to reach 1,000 for her career and 264 to reach the top-five in career kills...Murphy needs just 22 aces and 253 attempts to land in the top-five of the career lists.

•FOLLOW THE LEADER Head coach Ken Murphy enters his second season at the helm of the UTEP volleyball program...Murphy has proved to be a great leader despite the 7-25 record, guiding two of his players to record-setting seasons (Katie Smith, Elsa Reyes)...Murphy led the Miners to a 7-25 2007 campaign and a 2-14 finish in conference in his first career season as a head coach.

•MINER MIDDLE A two-year starter, Keisha Hyman-Gifth returns to the middle for the Miners...Hyman-Gifth was a starter in all 32 matches and was first on the team in kills, pounding 354 while averaging 2.8 per game...Hyman-Gifth led UTEP in hitting efficiency with .302 and blocks with 101 (seven solo, 94 assisted).

•UTEP'S NEW QUARTERBACK Patty Jarmoc will quarterback the young Miner team...Jarmoc is a freshman who red shirted during the 2006 campaign...Jarmoc is a native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada...Jarmoc split time at setter, middle blocker and outside hitter in high school...Jarmoc was an MVP and all-star for her division her junior and senior seasons.

•CASEY'S COMEBACK Outside hitter Casey McAnelly returns for her junior season after suffering a knee injury in UTEP's conference tournament match against East Carolina...McAnelly averaged 3.03 kills per game, ranking first on the squad...McAnelly was second in kills with 309 while posting 13 matches in double figures...McAnelly slammed 20 or more kills in three matches during the 2006 campaign.

•EL PASO'S SWEETHEARTS Of the 14 squad members, six are from the El Paso area...Irma Blanco, Catherine Chavez, Jenna Kubitz, Jennifer Nolasco, Elsa Reyes and Amy Sanders are all natives of the Sun City...three are former high school teammates - Chavez, Kubitz and Reyes...five played on for the same club - the Sunspots (Chavez, Kubitz, Nolasco, Reyes and Sanders) while three were on the same team (Chavez, Reyes and Sanders)...Chavez and Sanders earned starting spots as freshman last season...together they combined for 537 kills, 526 digs, 40 aces and 78 total blocks accounting for 621 of UTEP's total points...Nolasco is a true freshman and Kubitz red shirted her freshman season...Blanco made 11 starts for the Miners at the middle position while Reyes is the Miners' libero.

•MINERS IN C-USA The Miners are headed into the third season as a Conference USA member...the Miners joined C-USA in 2005 after 14 seasons in the Western Athletic Conference...the Miners are 12-20 in league play after two seasons...the Miners capped off the 2005 inaugural slate 10-6 and posted a 2-14 record last season.

•THEY CAME OUT IN DROVES The Miners led C-USA in average attendance, posting nearly 460 fans per match...UTEP volleyball ranked second in overall attendance in 2007, totaling 5,514 fans at home...the mark is nearly 1,000 more fans than the 2005 season...the Miners had four matches with crowds over the 500 mark including a crowd of 915 against I-10 rival New Mexico State...the Miners followed with 908 against league foe Marshall.

•THE NAME GAME Murphys, Mooneys and Jennifers...while head coach Ken Murphy and senior Christie Murphy share the same last name, there is no relation...same goes for assistant coach Angela Mooney and sophomore Aidan Mooney...the Miners have two Jennifers on the squad but go by different names - Jenna Kubitz and Jenny Nolasco - neither which go by Jennifer.